On a quiet night, just a few days before the legendary Spencer Tracy passed away, Katharine Hepburn tried to soothe him to sleep with soft, comforting words. This moment reveals so much about their deep, complicated bond—a love story that was both tender and full of sacrifice.
“I lay there watching you and stroking Old Dog,” Katharine once wrote in a heartfelt letter to Spencer years after his passing. She went on to describe how she spoke about everything that mattered to them—their latest film, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, his new tweed coat, the garden they shared, and all the little things that might help him drift off to sleep. But despite her efforts, Spencer couldn’t find peace. “You never stopped tossing,” she lamented.
Spencer Tracy was a man of immense talent but also one who wrestled with inner demons. Over his illustrious career, he earned two Academy Awards and starred in an incredible 75 films. Yet, behind the scenes, his personal life was marked by turmoil and conflict. “You couldn’t enter your own life, but you could become someone else,” Katharine once wrote, praising his unparalleled ability to transform into characters on screen. “You were a killer, a priest, a fisherman, a sportswriter, a judge, a newspaperman. You became whoever you needed to be in an instant.”
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For decades, Hollywood insiders whispered about the intense and enduring romance between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, a love affair that was carefully concealed from the public eye. The couple, known affectionately as "Spence" and "Kate," maintained their relationship in secret, acknowledging it only subtly in public. Some say Spencer stayed married to his wife, Louise, due to his devout Catholic faith, which made divorce unthinkable. Others speculate that he remained with her for the sake of their children, particularly his son John, who was born with hearing loss, a fact that weighed heavily on Spencer’s heart.
“He saw Louise as a saint,” explains Christopher Andersen, author of An Affair to Remember: The Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. In an exclusive interview with Closer, Andersen reveals Spencer’s deep reluctance to cause Louise any unnecessary pain or scandal. “He didn’t want to put her through anything more difficult than she already was dealing with.”
Though Katharine and Spencer shared a life together, they maintained separate homes to uphold appearances. It wasn’t until after Louise’s passing in 1983 that Katharine openly acknowledged the depth of her relationship with Spencer. In her autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life, she writes, “It was a unique feeling I had for [Spencer]. I loved [him]. … I would have done anything for him.”
And she truly did. Not only did Katharine nurture and protect her beloved partner, but she also endured the challenges of his wandering eye. “He had a significant affair with Ingrid Bergman, and Katharine told me she wasn’t fond of Bergman at all,” Andersen shares. “She held that grudge for the rest of her life.”
